The Kumayuru and Kumakyu carried us on their way.
"Hey, Yuna." (Marne)
"What?" (Yuna)
"I know it's a little late now, but why are you dressed like that?" (Marne)
It's really too late now.
"Generally, I don't care what people wear, but when people stare at us like that, it makes me wonder. Also, when I come to the Adventurer's Guild alone, adventurers tend to get involved, but this time, all the adventurers' eyes were on you." (Marne)
I guessed my outfit stood out more than Marne-san's.
But, getting involved with a child who looked like this, I wondered if adventurers had a lot of free time.
"Umm, the reason I'm dressed like this is because I have the bear's blessing..." (Yuna)
I replied with the usual excuse.
But Marne-san gave me a suspicious look.
"Is there such blessing?" (Marne)
"These kids are proof." (Yuna)
I stroked Kumayuru's back as I rode.
"Surely……" (Yuna)
"Bear's blessing. If it really exists, I'd like to research it." (Marne)
Even though she had a young face, she had the expression of a researcher.
However, since the bear's blessing was a lie on my part, I didn't think she would find anything out even if she researched it.
"But have these kids really been running at this speed for hours?" (Marne)
Marne-san touched Kumayuru's back.
Marne-san fell asleep immediately after leaving the royal capital, so she might not have felt it.
"They're not like any other bears out there." (Yuna)
"That's amazing. So Ellelaura and Sanya recognize you." (Marne)
Then Marne-san and I continued on, talking about each other.
"Yuna lives in Crimonia, right? That's why you came to the Ministry so late, huh?" (Marne)
That was part of it, but it was also because I had been relaxing since hearing about it from Cliff and hadn't even left yet.
"Have you been at the Ministry long, Marne-san?" (Yuna)
"I don't know, I don't really care, but I was there when Ellelaura was a student, so I think I've been there for over 10 years." (Marne)
Is Ellelaura-san 35 years old?
So maybe 15 to 20 years.
Since she's a half-elf, her senses in that area may be dull, just like those of elves.
"Always research about growing?" (Yuna)
"I don't do it all the time. I do research when I get information that will help me grow, when I find related research materials, or when there's a new presentation. If I don't do other work properly, I'll get kicked out." (Marne)
Well, if you didn't do the work, you couldn't help being fired.
There's a saying that said, "Who doesn't work shouldn't eat."
If you worked for a company, you had to do company work.
Well, I'd never been out in the workforce, so what I said might not be very persuasive.
I didn't think there was anyone who was as out of touch with society as I was.
"Plus, after all, there's no better place to get information than the Ministry. People who work there get it for me, and bring me rare herbs, without me having to look for them." (Marne)
You could get a lot more information by working for a company that was related to the government than by researching on your own.
But if people at work were willing to help you, it meant you had a good work environment.
"As for the incident in the Western Forest, an adventurer I know told me about it." (Marne)
"It's good to have friends, huh?" (Yuna)
My shop was able to run thanks to the help and encouragement of many people, including myself, Tilmina-san, and Morin-san.
Since coming to this world, I had received help from many people.
I could live alone, but maybe life was better with someone to help me.
"Yes, but when I first joined the Ministry I was teased a lot because of the way I looked." (Marne)
I understand how you feel.
I also got ridiculed and teased for dressing up as a bear, although some people thought I was cute.
We moved forward telling each other about ourselves.
After just a few hours of talking, we had become quite comfortable with each other.
I too had grown.
As we continue talking, the road curved smoothly to the left.
"Just go straight from here, right?" (Yuna)
If we continued along this road, we would come to a town.
But our destination was the western forest.
"If it's as Sanya told us." (Marne)
"Well then, let's go and prepare to camp out a little way off the road." (Yuna)
The sun was already starting to set.
With us on board, Kumayuru and Kumakyu head off off the road to find a place to camp.
There were rocks and trees in the shade, so even if a bear house was built, it would not be visible from the road.
"Shall we do it around here?" (Yuna)
Kumayuru and Kumakyu stopped.
"Now that I think about it, Sanya said that you had a house. What did she mean by that?" (Marne)
"That's what it means." (Yuna)
I got off Kumayuru and took out the travel bear house from the bear box.
"Wha-, bear?!" (Marne)
Marne-san was surprised when she saw the bear house.
"A bear? An item bag? That big?" (Marne)
Marne-san looked back and forth between the bear house and my polar bear puppet.
"Where should I start? It just came out of that white bear. You took out bread at lunch, so I knew it was an item bag. But did you have something this big in there?" (Marne)
Marne-san came over to me and squeezed the polar bear puppet on her left hand tightly with her small hands.
Each time, the bear's face changed shape.
"I can't believe something this big could fit inside it. And what's more, it's owned by just one person. Are you some kind of royalty or aristocrat? Or the daughter of a wealthy merchant?" (Marne)
Apparently, she was more interested in the item bag than the bear house.
I could be a sage, who was researching magical tools and magic circles.
"I'm just an ordinary person." (Yuna)
"Ordinary people don't have bags of these amazing items. Where did you get them?" (Marne)
"Well, this is also thanks to the bear's blessing." (Yuna)
I solidified lies with more lies.
Well, it's not a lie because only I could use it.
"Bear's blessing..." (Marne)
After hearing my words, she looked at me, then at the bear puppet I was holding, then at Kumayuru and Kumakyu, and finally at the bear house.
Then she muttered one word: "Bear."
"Anyway, you must be tired. Let's go inside and rest." (Yuna)
I let go of Marne-san's hand and made Kumayuru and Kumakyu smaller.
"The bears has gotten smaller!" (Marne)
Come to think of it, she didn't know that Kumayuru and Kumakyu could become small.
Marne-san held the tiny Kumayuru in her arms.
"What's the trick? Why did it get so small?" (Marne)
She asked one question after another.
She looked as if she had found a new research subject.
"Kumayuru and Kumakyu are special bears, so I can make them smaller." (Yuna)
"Special? Even if it is special, I don't think it will make you small." (Marne)
She wouldn't be easily fooled like children.
For a researcher, someone with knowledge, this might be an impossible phenomenon.
To me, the fact that Kumayuru and Kumakyu could become small was no different from magic.
"What is the principle?" (Marne)
She touched Kumayuru's body, checking every inch of it.
She looked at the hands and feet and observed the mouth and tail.
"That's strange." (Marne)
"By the way, even if you ask me, I don't know the answer." (Yuna)
"But it's your bear?" (Marne)
"All I know is that if I wish them to become small, they will become small, and if I wish them to become big, they will become big." (Yuna)
"Can it grow bigger?" (Marne)
"When I say they can grow, I mean their normal size. They can't grow any bigger than that. This is also thanks to the bear's blessing, by the way." (Yuna)
Let's just say it's the bear's blessing.
"Bear's blessing..." (Marne)
I didn't know if she was convinced or not. I couldn't stay outside forever, so I decided to go inside the bear house.
"Sit wherever you like." (Yuna)
Marne-san sat on the sofa.
Kumayuru and Kumakyu sat on either side of her.
"Here, a drink." (Yuna)
"Thank you" (Marne)
Marne-san looked around the room.
"It really is a home. To think that such a big house could fit in there. I remember you saying it was the bear's blessing." (Marne)
Marne-san turned her attention back to the polar bear puppet.
"Yup, only I can use this item bag." (Yuna)
I placed the polar bear puppet on the table in front of Marne-san.
Marne-san touched the polar bear puppet and tried to make it move, but it didn't move.
"It's heavy? No. It won't move." (Marne)
I easily picked up the polar bear puppet and put it on my left hand.
"It's the bear's blessing." (Yuna)
It was also called the bear's curse.
If I said something like that, Kumayuru and Kumakyu would be sad, so I wouldn't say it.
"So you really do have that kind of blessing. I've lived a long time, but I didn't know that. I still have a long way to go." (Marne)
It somehow felt like she understood.
Well, I guessed she had no choice but to be convinced since she saw it right in front of her and actually touched it.
I'm kidding.
"But it works the same way as a guild card in that only the owner can use it." (Yuna)
Indeed, the guild card only responded to the mana registered by the person in question.
"I understand that only the person using it can use it, but it's a mystery why it doesn't move. I wonder if that's the effect of the bear's blessing?" (Marne)
She began to think deeply, her expression befitting a researcher.
"Uhh," "Is there a way to stop him from moving...?" "Immobilization magic?" she began talking to herself.
I decided to leave Marne-san alone and prepare dinner. Although it was a simple dish.
I washed vegetables, made a salad, stir-fry leftover vegetables and meat, and made stir-fried vegetables.
It went well with rice and was also delicious on bread.
I prepared rice for me and bread for Marne-san.
As I brought the dinner I had made to the table, Marne-san was playing with Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
They might have been researching rather than playing.
"Is that rice?" (Marne)
"You know it?" (Yuna)
"My father brought it from somewhere a long time ago." (Marne)
Maybe he'd been to Land of Harmoni, or maybe he made it elsewhere.
Marne-san ate meat sandwiched between bread.
"It's delicious." (Marne)
"I'm glad it was to your liking. Once you've finished eating, take a bath." (Yuna)
While dinner was cooking, I went to fill the bathtub with water.
The tub should already be filled with hot water.
"A bath... it really is here." (Marne)
"You won't be able to recover from your fatigue unless you eat properly, take a bath, and sleep properly. Ah, you can sleep peacefully. If it's a weak monster, you'll be safe inside this house, and if there's any danger, Kumayuru and Kumakyu will let us know." (Yuna)
"I think I understand now why Ellelaura and Sanya said they felt safe with you. I couldn’t ask for a safer, more comfortable journey." (Marne)
Marne-san said this and put the bread in her mouth.
Author's Note
Bears are a universal excuse for bear's blessing.
Whether you agree with it or not is another matter...
※I am very sorry.
This is because we need to check all 11 volumes of the paperback edition, 12 volumes of the comic adaptation, and 21 volumes of the original work.
I will be posting only on Sundays for a while.
...
Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Some of the kanji have been corrected to match the book, so please understand that there are some parts that have not been corrected.